Summary:
Features:
- Intel Core 2 Duo processor U7600
- Broadband Wireless WAN
- Bluetooth
- Biometric finger print
- The price starts from £1599 VAT incl.
PROS:
- Lightweight (just 2.7lbs), and ultra thin (1.17 in)
- Standard Li-Ion battery lasts up to 7.5 hours
- Powered by Intel Core 2 Duo processor
- 11.1″ WXGA widescreen display
CONS:
- Comparatively slower performance.
Detailed Specification:
| Processor | Intel Core 2 Duo ( 1.2 GHz) |
| Memory | 2 GB 533 MHz DDR2 SDRAM |
| Chipset | Intel 945GMS |
| Hard drive | 32 GB solid state |
| Optical CD / DVD drive | DVD+R Double Layer/DVD±RW drive |
| Display | 11.1 in WXGA LCD |
| Video RAM | 224 MB RAM |
| Weight | 2.7 lbs |
| Dimension | 10.9″(W) 0.8″ – 1.17″(H) 7.8″(D) |
| Network type | Modem, Ethernet, Intel PRO/Wireless 4965AGN Network Connection (802.11a/b/g/n), Bluetooth |
| Graphics | Intel Graphics Media Accelerator 950 |
| Audio | Headphone / microphone jacks, Built stereo speakers; Built-in 1.3M camera |
| I/O ports (Data) | Two USB 2.0 ports, 1 Ethernet, Memory stick |
| OS | Windows Vista Business Edition |
| Price starting at | £1599 |
Expert Review:
The latest Vaio TZ series are a replacement to older Vaio TX series with ultra thin 11.1″ LCD displays. The special features of the newer version are the slimness, low weight, long lasting battery, smart look and additional features are wireless WAN, solid state hard drive, DVD burner, USB port, and built in camera.
Though the laptop is powered by Intel Core 2 Duo 1.2 GHz processor, its performance is somewhat slow possibly because of the bloated software loaded into the machine. The solid state 32 GB hard drive with no moving parts makes it more reliable and lightweight. The laptop weighs only 2.7 lbs, has dimensions of 10.9″(W) 0.8″ – 1.17″(H) 7.8″(D) with around 1″ average thickness, making it ultra portable.
The display features 11.1″ WXGA with Sony’s XBRITE-HiColour LCD technology with white LED backlight and anti reflection coating. It provides high brightness levels and 72% colour saturation for sharp pictures and a screen resolution up to 1366×768 pixels. The carbon fibre casing provides protection against shocks while at the same is lightweight.
The long lasting Li-ion battery is one of the highlights of the Sony Vaio TZ series laptops. It lasts from 4 to 7.5 hours depending on the application in the standard configuration which can be extended to 11.5 hours with optional large capacity battery. The optical storage is taken care of by a DVD±R DL/DVD±RW/DVD-RAM Drive that can burn DVDs. The keyboard has equally spaced flat keys, with a row of small media control buttons on the front edge, and a glowing power button in green colour is fixed to the laptop’s circular hinge. The power consumed by the laptop is 68W+10%, depending on usage.
The laptop has wireless WAN feature for connecting to broadband internet, Bluetooth for connecting to peripherals as well as Ethernet card for traditional Local Area Network. Additionally it also has integrated V.92/V.90 modem (RJ-11) connection. Some of the other features are electro-static touch pad as the pointing device, built-in 1.3M camera, microphone and stereo speakers, biometric fingerprint sensor for password free access, slot for memory stick, and 2 USB ports (2.0 compliant). Sony’s provides standard 1 year warranty to the laptop which is extendable up to 4 years with additional cost.
The operating system is Windows Vista Business Edition, and additional software provided include Click to DVD® – DVD Creation, SmartWiTM Technology, LocationFree® Player etc. developed by Sony. Though the performance is on the slower side, for operations like surfing the Web, creating office documents or performing basic multimedia operations, the speed is satisfactory. For professional users like those doing video editing or working with huge Photoshop files this ultra portable laptop may not be the correct choice.
To summarize, Sony Vaio TZ series laptop is packed with features, has attractive design and look but its cost and slow performance are the only blips in an otherwise fine laptop.
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March 6th, 2008 at 8:32 pm
“Spectacular, Excellent, Ultra portable”
March 7th, 2008 at 11:04 am
“Screen is too fragile! It cracked within 4 weeks after buying but Sony blames the owners of misuse!”
March 9th, 2008 at 5:03 am
“Sony has shown it knows style, very good looking notebook. The screen is absolutely superb, so thin and with 1366×768 resolution, everything looks very crisp and lovely since the pixel density is high. The keyboard is comfortable to use.”
September 1st, 2008 at 3:11 pm
I agree the screen is too fragile, mine cracked after 2 weeks and has acquired more cracks in the months following. Sony refuse to quote for a fix as it was bought out of country (unless I pay £150 for them to pick it up and look at it) – they refuse even to give me an indication of price or even tell me the cost of buying an replacement screen for a local spec TZ as an indicator. The product is a bit flimsy and Sony support treat you like rubbish because you didn’t buy from the country you live in even though i have bought international warranty (warranty doesn’t cover the screen though). I didn’t even try to claim under warranty, just enquire on a price.